Background outline: Ruehar Kabalar was a happy child, for the most part. His family wasn’t rich, but they were rich in love and support. His parents were kind Elves, and he was truly fortunate to have them. His twin sister, through childhood at least, was his best friend. They played together climbing trees, chasing small animals, indulging in the games of hide-and-seek like many other children. Ruehar especially loved tumbling and jumping and acrobatics. He would swing from the trees like a monkey, even climbing carefully out along the narrowest limbs that would hold him like some kind of squirrel. He was a very curious child, as was his sister, and the pair spent much of their time in the woods playing. That was, until the fateful day that changed you young elf-child’s life forever.

Their father had warned them of dangers in the forest, of animals and traps and things. They heeded his warnings but, like many good children do, sometimes forgot to be as cautious as they should while engrossed in their play. One day Ruehar was playing hide-and-seek and a rare stumble tumbled him down a small embankment into a patch of thick vines. Worse than that, he landed square in a bear trap! The rusty trap, set long ago by who knows what, snapped down on the young elf’s leg! His sister quickly followed the sounds of his screaming and fetched help. Unfortunately by the time help came the boy-child’s leg was in horrible shape. The family had no means to pay for magical healing, and the resulting infections meant the leg would have to be removed. The traumatic experience sharply dampened the young Elf’s desire to play in the forest, and instilled in him a much more cautious nature.

Ruehar spent much of his recovery focusing on capturing every detail possible of a situation before putting himself in danger. He quickly realized he had a tremendous knack for memorization; particularly when a visual component was involved. He found he could memorize sequences of numbers and writings with only the briefest study. He practiced memorizing things and picking out the most innocuous details. Riddles and mental puzzles became a new obsession for him, though he had always enjoyed them. He bent his mind to solving every one he could. Unfortunately he also began to have nightmares of that terrible day. He had trouble sleeping, and would sometimes wake himself talking. He also developed a nervous twitch associated with the lack of sleep and newfound tense nature. While the nightmares eventually faded, the twitch and night-talking remained.

His father made for him a wooden peg leg, and Ruehar practiced walking with it every day. He hated being confined, though he was still loathe to return to the forest, and he despised using a crutch. His father began to teach him to protect himself in the Elven tradition by using the sword and the bow. His partially diminished mobility hampered his blade-work still, but he quickly took to the bow. His keen eyes, nimble upper body and focused mind made him a natural talent at it. His father taught him care for his weapons as well, and he paid close attention. Ruehar soon turned himself to mastery of the cumbersome leg. His heart longed to be able to run again, to climb and play and tumble. He knew it would be possible someday, but only through hard work. He started small, with the rolls and hops he had learned as a small child. He worked his way up to more extended activities and complex tasks like climbing. Eventually the leg hindered him little, aside from not allowing him to run quite as fast as he used to.

As he began to come of age, his sister constantly tried to convince him to give the forest another chance. They knew their lives would take them from these games and opportunities soon for careers and duties elsewhere. Finally relenting, the twins returned to the wood. Late one afternoon, as evening was swift approaching, they heard the noise of revelry. Moving with all the caution and silence they could muster, they happened upon a small band of Sylvan elves, the wild ones! The music they played hypnotized young Ruehar, and the pan-pipes called to something deep within him that he suddenly found he was missing. His mind had been occupied with puzzles and riddles and numbers but his heart had silently yearned for the creative release he had so long denied it. His tumbling and acrobatics had helped, but there was certainly a missing element and now he knew what. At his sister’s urging they returned home and he vowed to himself to find some way to pursue his inner creativity.

As Ruehar became a young adult it was clear that he had a mind that could take him on to greater things. He always wanted to know how or why something was as it was. He had spent so much time puzzling out riddles and asking questions and seeking knowledge that it was almost a given that he would leave to attend schooling. He found a university that allowed for him to pay his way partially by serving in the militia, and his parents scrimped and saved for the balance. If he kept his grades up the school would certainly help him along with tuitions. In this new bustling setting, a full university compared to the tiny village of 200 or so Elves he had grown up in, Ruehar found himself much more tentative than he had expected. He was quite awkward with so many new people and races, but friendly as his parents had raised him to be. One particular point of apprehension was that he didn’t know how others would react to his pegleg. He studied magic with voracious appetite, and was fascinated by spirits. He noticed a course listing to learn more but there were so many requirements! Rather than being put-off by the amount of work, he found it to be a challenge! He dove into his studies head-first, taking each class and devouring the knowledge. A certain grade was required to move on, and he had to get a tutor for the religion course but eventually passed with a high enough grade to move on and take the course he was really interested in: Spirit Lore.

Still, something was missing. The book studies were satisfying, but he could not shake the need to feed his creative side. One day, strolling across campus, he heard music being played. His mind raced back to that evening in the woods with the Sylvan flute. He eventually found the source of the music and watched the band practice drills for a while. After speaking with the band instructor, he went on to pick up the pan flute he had heard and take formal instruction. Not long after he began playing a girl spotted him, asked if he wanted to go to a party. The party turned out to be at one of the campus student organization houses. He got a little drunk on elven wine and started doing acrobatics tricks (walking on hands, tumbling, walking narrow bannister railing) and generally had a lot of fun. The next day he spoke to the others there and joined the fraternity. There was some hazing but Ruehar got the impression that they took it easy on him because of his leg. He kept practicing in band but lost his awkwardness after the intense socializing involved with his new friends.

As with all things, the bill eventually came due. He worried a little that his militia training would be somewhat difficult for him, but his skill with the bow impressed his superiors and he was incorporated into the sharpshooters; where he was soon promoted to corporal (or equivalent) over a handful of other archers. He found the physical activity refreshing after long days in study, and began to build up a much higher endurance and activity level so that his pegleg bothered him hardly at all!

He became an active member of his fraternity, enjoying the camaraderie with others his age. He involved himself more and more in activities around the chapter in his precious free time. He enjoyed ‘game night’ most of all. At least once per week several of his ‘brothers’ would get together and play cards for hours on end. He took to it very well, counting cards and doing rough probabilities in his head. Before long he was one of the best, but it was then that his next lesson came. One of the brothers was almost unbeatable for him. It was a little frustrating since he was considered a good player himself, and doubly so when Ruehar witnessed others get the best of the frat-member. He tried and tried and never seemed to get anywhere. One night, near the end of his academic career, the brother took him aside after a significant trouncing. “Listen,” he confided, “you are a natural at calculating odds and running numbers in your head. For things like dice that is fine, but cards are different. You are not only playing the odds, you are playing the opponent. In fact, the person you are playing is more important that what the math says he may have in his hand.” The two practiced a little more that night, and the next time the group played Ruehar swept the table fairly handily, losing a few hands to his new tutor. Before long he graduated and life took another unexpected turn…

Rather than returning home right away, Ruehar looked for work. Unfortunately the fresh air of discovery and excitement he had found in his schooling did not transfer well to the working world. Being a mage assistant performing repetitive and boring tasks didn’t appeal to him at all. Following paid research to analyze the difference in serif-style demarcations on ancient writings he could not read was, in his mind, a complete waste of time. He kept himself in coin, however, gambling. Eventually he was invited to join a group of gamblers that met once a week. He showed up, ready to win, and promptly lost most of his earnings. He built up some coin in smaller games about town and tried again, losing even worse than before but retaining enough to get by until the next week. Finally, on the third try, he spotted an odd discoloration on one of the cards… they were cheating!

He quickly denounced the offender, and some of the others present looked surprised and angry while a few only found it amusing. The cheater drew a dagger and another pair of gamblers who never seemed to bid much produced concealed crossbows! He realized he and the remainder of the gamblers had unwittingly been part of a con to ‘liberate funds’ from the city. The cheat, impressed that Ruehar had spotted the mark, detained the young elf after the others were robbed and sent on their way. “Ye gots good potential, boy.” The poorly-spoken human said. “Lets see what the old man says of ye.” Ruehar was blindfolded and led through streets and alleys, puddles and rooms and more rooms. Eventually he came to a stale-smelling area and was ‘introduced’, still-blindfolded, to the head of the local thief’s guild! The man (or woman?) didn’t speak except through another, likely so the elf wouldn’t mark his voice, and asked what they should do with someone who knew their secrets. He quickly offered to put his gambling talents to work for the guild and they agreed to a price for him to ‘earn’ back from the enterprise. Ruehar, still disillusioned at his situation regarding finding work in magical pursuits, readily accepted the terms.

The guild taught him about marked cards and revealed that he had (surprisingly) spotted a deck of very finely marked cards. His photographic memory made it child’s play to learn the pattern, and soon he was part of the swindling racket as well as involving himself in other activities. His natural curiosity made working locks, spotting traps and disarming them his main focus. His natural agility and Elven nature made hiding and picking a pocket or two (boys) light work as well. One night something wholly unexpected happened, his twin sister showed up at one of the gambling games! She had been looking for him for some time, and eventually found a lead that led her to the game. Caught between doing his duty and discovery, he tried to pretend he didn’t know her. Unfortunately the resemblance between the two was so powerful that another ‘mark’ suspected something was up even though Ruehar’s skill was technically perfect. The rogues attacked the gamblers but the young elf defended his sister. An alarm was raised and the guard fell on the group to sort things out.

As was often the case with the guild, those who fell behind were left behind. Ruehar confessed to his involvement in cheating (but did not give up the guild) and convinced the authorities his sister was innocent. The story was quickly verified and he was detained for 1 year for cheating the public. The guild sent word that he had done well by taking the blame himself, and would still be considered a member in good standing. Ruehar convinced his sister not to tell their parents what had become of him, and that he had taken work as an adventurer and so was difficult to find. She agreed and he spent the next year digging graves for the city to ‘repay his debt to society’ or some such prattle. Eventually he was released and his sister brought word that their father had left him a deed and some belongings. The tools were in his sister’s care, should she ever find him between adventures, and the deed was being held near the coast.

MU Training results:You went to an Elite Arcane Academy that was the centre of your community. You had a caring & competent, gifted Master.The class size was small and equipment was provided as required. You graduated in the top quartile and made the Dean’s last 3 semesters.[Burnt 1BP but +5BP from a fine education (net +4BP),you gain one 1st level spell of your choosing (in addition to normal starting spells, two new academic skills, and +14 points to other existing academic skills. As an undergrad, you were a bank geek (Gain the Socially Awkward quirk, no BP, and either brass, percussion or wind instrument at 45%+1d20%), in a Frat Society (you overcame your Socially Awkward quirk i.e. delete it, and gained the skills Taunting, Minor; Social Etiquette; Shaving & grooming), but the school was a land-grant university (and you were obliged to train in the local militia {lose 1 starting spell, gain +1d20+5% Con, +1d10+2% Str, +3y to your age, gain Leadership, Basic) and you gambled (gain the skill Gaming plus an extra four rolls of the mastery Dice). Add 3 HON. Add 75 to your Starting money roll & recalculate.

Thief Training:No one understood you as a kid; you started thieving just to spite your parents and then a businessman noticed you and hired you for a small, discrete job that earned you enough to buy some real equipment. You bribed your way into a small, elite Guild where you leaned the fine arts of your craft with some of its finest practitioners. Your mentor was a technical expert had incomplete street knowledge; he didn’t give you the whole picture. Overall your training was superior. You were incarcerated for 1 year during which time you were given the unenviable task of burying executed prisoners..

Ruehar is headed towards the human dominated coast to try and track down the deed from his father. Most movement and trade there is via boat. Slavery is legal and a lot of the trafficking is by hobgoblins and half-hobgoblins. It's late morning and pretty warm in the subtropical forest that Ruehar calls home. Warm enough to make it hard work doing anything active in chainmail and completely exhausting in anything heavier.

The elven patrol wave farewell to Ruehar as their sweep takes them further inland. Truth be told, they've already made something of a detour in their two day trek to see him and his ass this close to the coast. "It's straight that-a-way, can't miss it," one of them, Vanmor, calls out, quickly shushed by the patrol leader. They disappear into the forest with nary a sound. You're heading for the nearest town, Narmaren, not that you know much about it. The most promising plan seems to head directly towards coast, which is arguably the western bank of the great river delta, and then head south along the coastal road.

======If you go as the crow flies, you can hit the coast in a little better than three hours. Finding the most direct route requires a Mapless Travel check (with a 20% bonus) every hour. (Map sense give a bonus to this equal to the degree of success, but 5% bonus minimum.)

During the second hour, you encounter a pair of feral cats, each about 2' at the shoulder, and clearly fancying your ass for dinner.If you make an observation check, 20% bonus, you avoid the possibility of surprise. You have no weapons equipped, although they are all at hand.What next?

Ruehar waves as the patrol peels off, keeping a more wary eye on his surroundings now that he is alone. He keeps near the ass, bow still slung across one shoulder should he need it. When the cats appear he dips his hand into his pouch, readying a pinch of sand.

[If they move quickly towards us Ruehar will attempt to cast sleep first to catch them in the spell with the AoE placed so that it does not affect Ruehar or the ass. If they do not move closer he will shout and wave one arm about trying to make himself look larger and chase them off. The wavimg arm will have a some sand ready to cast sleep, the other hand holds the ass' reins until he is forced to cast.]=======Ooc: I'd just like to get clarification about a couple of things:-You mentioned that I have no weapons equipped. Maybe I'm confusing equipped with on-my-person rather than in-hand?-So I have spotted the cats but it is an observation check to see whether I spotted them in time to react before they attack?-If it is late morning, can i use the sun to determine/confirm my direction?-since I'm not trained in mapless travel what do I do for that part once the potential combat is resolved?

OOC: Equipped means ready to use. So unless you have fastdraw (or some analogous property) it will take 5 segments to ready a weapon before it can be used in combat. Init of 1d10, modified by dex and WSF & GH are on top. Alll negative Inits are considered to be shades of 1. Anything over 10 overflows into and takes up the next round. Spell castting goes on 1 if components are ready. No init rolls. Must be declared before init rolls. Missiles (if ready) go on 1 with no init roll. (RoF 2 goes on 1 and 6).The GM has told you the cats are there to prevent a couple of sets of vacuous posts. You're now rolling Observation to see if you spot them before that can act (you failed).So they therefore have a chance to surprise you. Roll for surprise, please. 1d10, Dex does not apply, GH does, Talents do. You're with a relatively noisy ass so elven stealth does not apply.If you'd made the observation check then you could have the spell components out while they start to act. As you didn't, you'd have to get the sand out while they approach (roll 1d4, less Dex & GH, min 1 adds to CT) assuming that you're not surprised. (But roll it anyway to save a set of vacuous posts).Sun, yes. Good idea. +20xp. You can climb a tree easily enough. Roll d100% under Wis, 60% bonus, and degrees of success or failure are relevant (in 20% bands).Spells are 3 x L1 @ MU1, add 1 for Photographic Mem. You can have 4 cantrips memorised for each of the 3 base spell slots that you give up (for the day). So having 4 captrips as stated is fine, but that reduces 3+1 to 2+1. Which spell will you not memorize?======Ruehar does not notice the feral cats as they start to approach him and his ass from two sides, both cats facing into the almost imperceptible wind so as to not alert they prey by scent..Will the sharp eyed elf notice the cats as the approach stealthily from about 35' and 45' away? Or will the cats gain the element of surprise?

[Ooc: lol, i screwed up the cantrip thing already. I guess I'll drop Read Magic for now, and I'll update my char sheet. Can I get a map of combat? If they're both facing the wind but coming from 2 sides would that make them at about 90 deg to each other approaching my ass from the rear? I.e. Back left and back right? If it is possible to catch both as they draw near and the timing allows I'll do that. Otherwise i'll target the closest one with the sleep.]

[Ooc: I typically make a map with some computer program (i have an app on my phone called "Dungeon Sketch"), then i talke a screen shot or save the image some how and attach it to the post.To attack: select the 'full editor button'. There will be an 'attachment' box below the reply field for attaching files.]

OOC: Thx.I dont have anything like that. Was it expensive? An would you know if there's an equivalent for the PC?

======

IG:For now, the imperceptible breeze is over Ruehar 's left shoulder, and the cats are ahead, one of to the left, maybe 35 yards away, the other ahead right, maybe 15 or 20 yards further off with a fair spacing between them so it's unlikely Ruehar's Sleep can catch both of them, especially as they seem to have sensed that their sneaking forwards was unsuccessful and they both break into a run, the nearest slightly earlier.Completing the spell, the elf drops the nearest cat just as it was about to leap at him, mere feet away while cat #2 is still 35 yards away. With barely a pause the second cat claws and bites at Ruehar. You suspect that if both claw attacks succeed, it can rake with the hind claws.

Both claws miss by a fair margin, but it bites you in the abdomen. (2HP dam).

[Ooc: it was free, actually. There are lots of PC map-maker programs, several of which have free versions. There are also free online map-makers. I don't typically use those, but I hear some are quite good. You may have to browse around and see what strikes your fancy. An internet search for: [rpg map maker free] would probably yield some good results.]

Ruehar casts sleep at the nearer of the two, again centering the spell so his ass won't be affected by the spell. [readying components roll was 1 + casting time is 1 segment. Should I roll for hd affected?]

Knowing his skill in melee is severely lacking, Ruehar flips a quick 'eye gouge' cantrip at the active cat; hoping to discourage it from continuing to attack. At the very least it may give him enough time to draw steel and hack this feline to bits. As soon as the cantrip is free he draws his swords simultaneously and prepares to attack.

--------[Cantrip casting time 1/6th of a segment.Since the casting time is so quick can I begin to draw my swords after that but during the same round?Drawing weapons: 5 segments ]

Ruehar casts Eye Gauge on the cat which hiises in pain and then attacks him, seemingly with one eye closed.The ferral creature claws and bites slightly to the left of where the elf stands, only delivering a single claw attack (1HP dam).The elf pulls out both weapons, ready for melee.

Actions (& rolls) for R3?

======No save so cat #2 is at -1 to hit. Note the cats actions were already committed. Any Morale check, if relevant, is R3 on it's init.Cat #2 attacks on Init 7 (so Ruehar recovers his Dex & ASS)Claw/Claw/Bite: AC4/AC6/AC6, so fortunately just one claw hits, avoiding two additional rake attacks.Ruehar regains Dex on segment 6, so 5 segments to ready bothweapons, finishing on 1 in R3. This int for R3 is 1+(1d10+GH+Dex+WSF, minimum 1), so minimum 2.

With the cat partially blinded Ruehar does his best to make it feel overwhelmed by shouting wordlessly at it and attacking with both of his swords.

-------Ok, just to make certain I have all this right I'm going to list it out before the rollsAmbidextrous so no penalty for 2-wep fighting or offhand use,Longsword and shortsword: both non proficient (-3) both elven sword bonus (+1): net -2 to hit eachInitiative longsword 1d10 -4(dex)+0(wsf)-1(GH)=> 1d10-5Initiative shortsword 1d10 -4(dex)-2(wsf)-1(GH)=> 1d10-7

The cat hisses back at Ruehar who swipes at it effectually.Struggling to cope with one eye, the feline puts one paw down a rabbit hole, apparently causing it to yelp in pain and miss Ruehar with all three attacks.

Actions (& rolls) for R4?

======Your assumptions are all good, although strictly speaking the game doesn't use a THAC0.Please give me a d1000 roll for your short sword fumble.Cat #2 init 7, morale check TN8:4, passClaw/Claw/Bite: 1/1/3-1 Fumble/Fumble/MissCat #2 sprains its right fore paw [-1 to all hits]Cat #2 catches its left fore paw in a rabbit hole (or similar). [-3 to all hits and init for 1 round]

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